Star Trek: Swiftfire 07: Rode the 600
by The Sisko
Summary: Captain Sisko plans an operation to take back DS9 and the Fifth is to take part. The fleet is forced to launch earlier then expected and with only half of the ships and are intercepted by a massive Dominion fleet.
1. Prologue

**STAR TREK: SWIFTFIRE**

**_Rode the 600  
_**

(Season 1: Episode 7)

* * *

Excitement filled the air on the USS_ Swiftfire_. The _Swiftfire_ and over three hundred of its fellow ships from the Fifth Fleet had been pulled off the Vulcan border and had joined elements of the Second Fleet at Starbase 375 near the Cardassian border. Together there were over six hundred ships waiting with purpose, waiting to retake the most important piece of real estate in the Quadrant, Deep Space 9.

Both fleets had been waiting days for the arrival of the Ninth fleet and a fleet of Klingon warships. Once they arrived the size of the combined fleet would more then double. Then under the command of Captain Sisko of the USS_ Defiant_ and the former commander of Deep Space 9, they would go and reclaim DS9 from the Dominion. A four pronged attack would overwhelm the stations defenders and defences and the Federation banner would fly in DS9's halls again. But no one expected it to be easy. They knew the Dominion would not give up the station easily. They knew that there would be many casualties before the mission was completed.

The thousands of beings in the fleet knew the importance of the mission. If they succeeded then they would be prolonging the war until it ended, one way or another. If they failed, then they would be condemning the Alpha Quadrant to defeat. There was no denying that this mission would set the course for the rest of the war.


	2. Chapter 1

Captain Jonathan Masters sat on one of the couches under the centre window in his quarters and looked out the window. The _Swiftfire_ was orbiting Starbase 375 from a fair distance and it gave Jonathan a good view of the fleet arrayed around the Starbase. There were a lot of ships out there. It wasn't the biggest collection of ships he had ever seen but it was still large.

Jonathan could see a few familiar starships. The _Defiant_ class, USS_ Defiant_, sat very close to the Starbase. Jonathan had heard that Captain Sisko had been moved to help Admiral Ross, so Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax was in command. Dax and Jonathan were friends and he hadn't seen her since a year before the war started. If there was time he planned to see if he could catch up with her.

The door chime broke Jonathan's concentration. He slowly got up and made his way to the door. When he opened it he was surprised to see Wing Commander Maxine Benton at the door.

"Wing Commander! Sorry, I mean Maxine. Come in. Are you enjoying your break?"

Maxine turned down the offer to come in but answered Jonathan's question.

"Yes, thanks. After all the fighting at the Vulcan border it was great to have some time to relax in the holodeck. Which is why I'm here, would you like to join me in the holosuite?"

"I don't know. I do have some reports I should read."

"Jonathan, you can do it later. Come to the holodeck," said Maxine sweetly but sternly.

"Okay," gave in Jonathan.

Maxine smiled triumphantly and led Jonathan to a nearby holodeck. They entered to find it was already running a program. Jonathan took a look around. It was night time and they were in a park of some sort. Close by was a still lake, Jonathan thought it was Earth until he looked up at the night sky.

"The stars are wrong," he stated.

"Pardon?" asked Maxine.

"The stars are wrong," repeated Jonathan. "This isn't Earth."

"No, it's Betazed. Come on."

Maxine continued to lead Jonathan through the park until they came to a quiet spot where there was a rug, candles, food and a thatch basket under a large willow, like tree.

"It's more traditional for the man to do a picnic," said Jonathan as Maxine directed him to sit. "Not that I'm complaining."

Maxine sat opposite him and started to pour him a glass of wine.

"I managed to get a bottle of real wine off a Ferengi on the Starbase. I think he said he was assigned to the USS_ Defiant_, his name was Mog or Rog."

"Nog," corrected Jonathan as he accepted the glass from Maxine. "He's the first Ferengi to enter Starfleet. His uncle, Quark, runs an establishment on Deep Space 9. I've met Quark but not Nog. Cheers," said Jonathan as they clanged glasses together. Jonathan took a sip. "He has his uncle's knack for getting good quality products."

"I was pretty impressed he managed to get this type of wine so quickly, this vintage is very good and hard to find," said Maxine. "So you know when the fleet is launching?"

Jonathan shook his head. "No. But the Ninth fleet arrives in five days. So it can't be before then and I don't know when the Klingon fleet is meant to arrive, so it could be maybe another week until we launch."

Maxine offered Jonathan some kind of shellfish. Jonathan took one and quickly dropped it into his throat. I look of surprise came to Jonathan's face as he tasted it.

"Jonathan," said Maxine with a huge smile on her face. "You're meant to dip it in this sauce. Otherwise it tastes like engine coolant."

Jonathan silently nodded as he calmly picked up his glass and swallowed the entire contents at once so to wash away the taste.

"I've tasted worse," was the only thing that Jonathan could cough out.

Maxine lightly laughed as she picked up one of the shellfish and dipped it in a reddish sauce. "Come here."

Jonathan lend closer as Maxine fed him the shellfish. This time it tasted much better. "So where are we on Betazed?" asked Jonathan.

Maxine gave herself a shellfish. "The main continent. This was a big park near where I lived. It was a favourite of a lot of the kids at my school as a place to take dates. We may be light-years from it but I still can bring my dates here," said Maxine, adding a wink to the end of her sentence.

"That is only the third thing I know about you, Maxine. We've never talked about you before. I know your parents are ex-Starfleet now tourist operators but other then that I don't know anything," said Jonathan.

"Because there isn't much to tell. I lead a very boring life."

"I find that hard to believe."

"It's true. My life would have still been boring if I didn't join Starfleet. And I only joined because I couldn't think of anything else to do. Flying was the only thing I was passionate about and I was going to see if I could join a stunt group but my parents said I could only join if I went through Starfleet training. So I did and I've never looked back."

"So you never had any wishes to join Starfleet?" asked Jonathan surprised.

"No. I was more into no rules, been my own boss and no work, all play. I thought I could breeze through Starfleet training, do a tour of duty and then become a stunt pilot."

"What changed your mind?"

"The Academy, I did well, very well. I got use to the idea of rules and boundaries and Starfleet life wasn't as boring as I thought it would be. So I stuck with it and it paid off."

"Your parents would have been proud of you."

"They were indeed. But they never doubted that it would turn out like this. My mother said she could see that this is what I really wanted; it was just hidden deep in my mind."

"It must have been hard to get way with anything when you were young with a parent who is a telepath," said Jonathan.

"Very hard. But as I got older I learnt how to shield my mind, which didn't really help things because as soon as I did shield my thoughts my mother got extremely suspicious. But when you're a kid you're surprisingly resourceful and I managed to cause trouble from time to time."

Jonathan laughed. The two continued to talk for around another hour before they finished their meal. Once they did they went around a walk around the park and the conversation turned to the future.

"Have you thought about the future, Jonathan?" asked Maxine.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't think about the future," confessed Jonathan. "Everyday I think about how this war has effected the Federation and how it will change after it's over."

"Putting aside the war," continued Maxine. "Do you think about your future? Where do you see yourself in 10, 20 years time?"

Jonathan paused as he thought about his answer. "I guess I see myself still in Starfleet, still on the Bridge of a starship and still exploring the unknown."

"What about a family?"

"I don't know. I want one but I don't know if it will ever happen. What about you? You still think you'll be in Starfleet in 20 years time?"

"I don't know. I doubt I'll be still flying fighters. I'll probably be in command of fighters and order them around but not actually flying them. But I wouldn't mind becoming an instructor at the Academy. I'll be stationed at one spot and it would be easy to have and raise children," said Maxine. Maxine let out a yawn. "It's late I think we better be heading off."

"Of course. I'll walk you back to your quarters."

When they got to Maxine's quarters Maxine turned to face Jonathan. "It was a fun evening."

"Yes, it was," agreed Jonathan. "It was a very pleasant surprise."

There was an uncomfortable silence as they both waited for the other to say or do something.

Finally Jonathan broke the silence. "Well, goodnight."

"Good night," said Maxine.

Jonathan slowly turned and said goodnight again as he hurriedly departed. Maxine just stood in her door way for a while looking down the corridor Jonathan disappeared down, slightly confused.

Two pilots came down the corridor from the opposite direction. One of them spoke to Maxine. "Is everything alright, Commander?"

Maxine looked at them but her mind was still on her relationship with Jonathan. "Yeah. I'm just going to my quarters."

The two pilots looked at each other confused. The same one who spoke before said, "Ah, Commander. You are at your quarters."

Maxine turned and looked at the door and realised that they were right. She opened the door and retreated into her room leaving two very confused pilots in the corridor.


	3. Chapter 2

"Coffee black," ordered Lt. Commander Pavlo Celcho.

The replicators whirled and a cup of steaming hot coffee appeared. Pavlo picked it up and started to drink. He immediately started to feel more awake. The job of a Chief engineer was not easy, especially during wartime. Normally if a ship had a run in with hostile forces it was straight to the Starbase for immediate repairs, but in war you couldn't guarantee that you'd be able to get a repair team at a Starbase, or that there would be a Starbase to go to! There was a lot more work as you had to patch up any problems quickly because it could mean the difference between life and death, especially if you were talking about the shield and weapons systems. Thankfully the _Swiftfire_ hadn't gone into battle recently so it gave Pavlo and his engineering teams a chance to replace the jury-rigged patches with more permanent repairs, so his work load was still pretty high and he was only just catching up with sleep, so coffee was a life saver.

Pavlo turned to look at the heart of the ship, the warp core. In truth he was looking at one of the ship's hearts, the _Akira_-class had a dual warp core system. There was a warp core in each of the dual engineering hulls. This was because of the design of the Akira. Because of the through deck Shuttlebay there was not enough room for a warp core to power the ship. Plus it would defeat the purpose of the engineering hull. In true Starfleet spirit or symmetry, two warp cores were placed in each arm of the dual engineering hull. The ship could operate on only one core but at reduced performance. It wouldn't be able to sustain high warp speeds as long and during combat situations when power from the core was essential to power shields, weapons, sensors and all manner of systems the extra power from the dual cores gave the _Akira_ a lot of stamina for prolonged battles.

Pavlo was in the starboard engineering room. This was his choice. He had been given the choice of which engineering room and had gone with the starboard one, only because it was closer to his quarters. In the port engineering room was his second in command, Lieutenant Paul Dyson. The Lieutenant was the acting chief engineer in that engineering room, but still reported to Pavlo. But if there was major trouble there Pavlo would go over. There was a transporter system that beamed just between the two engineering rooms, plus an emergency turbolift system to each room, so Pavlo could travel easily between the two.

Pavlo stepped to the railing that surrounded the warp core and looked at the console that monitored it. The core was operating perfectly. Hopefully that would be the pattern for the rest of the day.

* * *

Lieutenant Terri Letac took a sip of her drink and looked around the room. She was on Starbase 375 waiting for a friend. Starbase 375 was a combat Starbase, which was built to give Starfleet a presence in this sector. But like all Federation Starbases it had some recreational facilities, including several places to meet and eat, which was where Letac was now.

Terri was waiting for Aimee Wessling, an old friend from Starfleet Academy. The two had met in Terri's first year there when they had shared accommodation. Aimee had been in her second year and was doing Counselling, while Terri did Science. They had basically lived together until Aimee had graduated two years later. Terri had kept in touch with Aimee for several years before they gradually lost touch. So she had been surprised when she had received a message from Aimee saying she was going to be at Starbase 375 and they should meet. But it was a pleasant surprise; she looked forward to seeing her old friend again.

"I see you've cut your hair."

Terri turned to face the voice and saw Aimee Wessling standing smiling down at her. She stood and hugged her old friend. "It's good to see you, Aimee."

Terri offered Aimee a seat and both women sat down.

"It's good to see you too," said Aimee as she swept her long blonde hair away from her face. "It is also lucky the USS_ Sydney_ was passing through here now or it might have been another couple of years before we saw each other. But my Captain decided to stop here before we got to the Breen border."

"You're going to the Breen border?" said Letac slightly surprised.

"Yes, pirate activity has picked up in that area and we're pretty sure several Breen pirate groups are using the fact that most of our ships are at the Cardassian border to raid ships and colonies. So how are you, Terri?"

"I'm well. I'm got to say my new posting has been very interesting so far."

"I heard you were transferred to the USS_ Swiftfire-_A_,_ was it?"

Letac nodded in confirmation.

"Who's the captain, anyone I know?" asked Aimee.

"I doubt it. Most of the crew didn't know him until they were assigned to his ship. It's Captain Jonathan Masters."

Aimee's blue eyes flashed with recognition. "Jonathan Masters sounds familiar. Where have I heard the name before?"

Letac shrugged her shoulders. "You might know him as the son of Admiral Dalton Masters."

"I know of Admiral Masters, mostly because he was the sole survivor of his ship crashing on Guyra III, but I don't know him in connection to your captain. I'm sure I'm heard the name, Jonathan Masters, before but from who or when I can't remember. Oh well, I guess its just one of those mysteries."

"The Captain did receive the Christopher Pike Medal of Valour for the Hyralan incident."

"That's probably it. That was a few years ago and I know I haven't come in contact with his name recently."

Happy that the mystery was solved Terri changed the subject. "So how's the Counselling going? I'm surprised you're still a Lieutenant, j.g."

"It has its good day and its bad days. The bad days are the reason I'm just a Lieutenant, j.g. Let's just say I had some far out ideas with helping some people that got me into trouble with my commanding officer when I was an Ensign that prolonged my stay at that rank. But other then that it has been what an expected."

"The war must have had an effect on your duties."

"It has indeed," agreed Aimee. "My work load increased tenfold. People feel very insecure and nervous. A lot also isolate themselves from others because of this and they find it good to have someone to speak to. Well, at least some do. Others I have to drag into my office kicking and screaming," joked Aimee.

Terri laughed. "There would be a few of those ones on the _Swiftfire_, that's for sure!"

"Who is your ship's counsellor on the _Swiftfire_?" asked Aimee.

Terri thought for a while and realised that they didn't have one. "I'm pretty sure we don't have one. In fact I'm totally sure. I don't think we've ever had one."

"I've been thinking of transferring off the _Sydney_, just for a change in environment. Ask Captain Masters if he would like a Counsellor on the _Swiftfire_, I'd be happy to transfer over."

Terri beamed from ear to ear. "That would be fantastic. It would be just like our time at the Academy."

"Remember it still as to be approved by your Captain," reminded Aimee.

"Don't worry about that, I sure the captain will approve."


	4. Chapter 3

It came as a surprise to every ship in the combined fleet. No one was expecting it. This wasn't because Starfleet crew were slack and waited until the last minute, but because no one thought that it could come before half of them were there. It put the crew on most ships into a mad panic as they got their ships prepared. It came to show that in war nothing was certain and it paid to be prepared. The fleet was moving out.

As each ship finished preparations they moved into formation. Over six hundred Federation starships arrayed themselves close to Starbase 375 and waited. Then the leading ship joined the formation. The USS_ Defiant_ and the last of the ships moved into formation and the fleet moved out in a show of force.

This was it. The Federation was taking back Deep Space 9, no matter the cost.

"I don't like it," muttered Ensign Frank Cole as he checked the ship's course.

"What was that, Ensign?" asked Jonathan.

Jonathan saw Cole looking over to Karak. Karak didn't look up and continued to work. He knew Karak heard him and that Vulcans didn't lie. All it would take was for Jonathan to ask Karak to find out what Cole had said.

"I don't like this, sir," said Cole loud enough for everyone to hear. "It's not that I think the mission is a mistake," continued Cole. "DS9 is an important asset to have. But we have only half the force we planned for and the Dominion isn't just going to let us go by."

"Don't worry, Ensign," reassured the Captain. "I understand. I have some misgiving but we have no choice, we're on a tight schedule."

"Do you think we'll make it?" asked Cole.

"I can't guarantee that we will, but if we don't we _will_ go down in a blaze of glory."

"Oh," was the only think Frank could say before he turned back to his duties.

Commander Core lent closer to Jonathan and whispered. "You could have lied and made him feel better."

"False hope is worse then no hope," whispered back Jonathan. "The day that they think they are invincible is the day that they made foolish mistakes and die needlessly."

Core smiled thinly. "You're all happy go lucky, aren't you?"

"Aren't I always?"

* * *

Letac looked at the sensors. "Another ship is dropping out of formation."

"I noticed. At least none of the 3rd have had to drop out," said Lt. Commander Nikki Whitechapel who was to her right at the Tactical station. "I hope this doesn't continue of we'll have no ships left in formation when we get to Bajor. The fleet really needed more time to prepare to leave." Whitechapel looked over to Letac and saw a strange look on her face. "What is it?"

Letac looked forward to where the Captain and First officer were. They were currently talking, so they wouldn't be listening to what she and Nikki would be talking about.

Letac made a grand sweeping gesture with her hand. "All these ships. All these beings. Some many will die before it is over. It makes me feel conflicted. I want to be here, to be part of history, but I also don't want to be here. I'm not afraid I'll die but that others will die, one of us." Letac's gestured to the people on the Bridge. "I don't want that to happen. I'm glad the USS_ Sydney_ isn't with us, I have less to worry about."

"The USS_ Sydney_? As in the _Norway_ class vessel?"

"Yes, I have a good friend on the _Sydney_. It stopped by Starbase 375 before going to the Breen border."

"You haven't heard?"

Letac looked questioningly at Whitechapel.

Whitechapel looked sorrowfully at Letac. "I'm sorry to tell you this but the USS_ Sydney_ was destroyed a few hours after it left the Starbase. It ran into a Cardassian Raiding patrol."

Letac left her stomach sink, taking her heart with it.

"But from what I remember most of the crew survived. The report is in the ship's computer. I'll check. What's your friend's name?"

"Lt. Wessling," said Letac hoarsely.

Whitechapel ran a search of the file that listed the survivors.

"Lt. Wessling, Aimee? She survived. No details on injuries. The USS_ Lexington_ took her and most of the other survivors to Starbase 257."

Letac sighed with relief. The death of a close friend would have been the last thing she needed to hear before going into battle.

She put a hand to her heart as she calmed down. "Thank god! I just talked to her, my friend. I was going to see if I could get the Captain to see if he could get her transferred to the _Swiftfire_."

"Really? What position?"

"She is a Counsellor."

"Great! We need one. This ship is full of nutbags," joked Whitechapel.

"Do you think the Captain will do it?"

Whitechapel shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"Well, we don't have one; maybe there is a reason why."

"You mean a captainy reason? Could be. But you'll never know until you ask him."

Letac just nodded in agreement.

"I got a bit of a personal question," said Whitechapel.

Letac looked over in surprise, eager to find out what it was.

"If you don't mind me asking, before you thanked "God". I thought Bajorans thanked the "Prophets"."

Letac smiled at Whitechapel showing that she found no offence in the question. "We do. But it's more of a habit for me to say "God". It is mostly because I grew up without any Bajoran influence. I've only just started to look into my people's spiritual beliefs. It is a very interesting subject. If we retake DS9 I plan to visit the Temple on the station. Do you have any beliefs?"

Whitechapel thought about it for a while before answering. "Yes. I believe we all have a certain amount of time in this universe before it ends. We have to do the best we can in that time and leave with no regrets. Whatever happens after that, I don't know. But I like to think it would be something amazing."

"That's a very open attitude," commented Letac as she monitored the reports coming into her console as a _Steamrunner_ class heavy frigate, identified as the USS _Cortéz_, adjusted its position. "Oh, another ship just dropped out of formation."

* * *

Jonathan and the Commander were still talking when it happened.

Letac spoke over up and said, "Captain, I've got contact with a Dominion fleet."

The entire Bridge fell into silence. Everyone looked up from what they were doing; waiting for what was coming next.

"On screen," said Jonathan finally.

Against the backdrop of a pink nebula was the Dominion fleet. They could clearly make out dozens of Galor class cruisers and Dominion Battlecruisers.

"That's a lot of ships," said Core. "Do you have a count, Lieutenant?"

"There fleet is twice the size of ours, 1254 ships."

"1254 ships! I can't believe it, that's two divisions! How did they get so many ships here to intercept us?"

"Calm down, everyone. Lieutenant, do we have any orders yet?"

Letac shook her head. "No…wait. The _Defiant_ is hailing the fleet."

"_To all ships, this is Captain Sisko. Assume attack formation Delta-2."_ There was a dramatic pause before Sisko continued. _"There's an old saying, 'Fortune favours the bold'. I guess we're about to find out."_


	5. Chapter 4

The Federation fleet slowed down to a stop as it approached the Dominion fleet. Both fleets were well out of range of the other's weapons, waiting for the other to make a move. But time was against the Federation fleet; they could not sit there and do nothing, so Sisko acted. He ordered in the first wave of Federation Attack fighters that aggressively attacked the Cardassian ships.

But the Dominion fleet did not budge. To win they didn't need to destroy the Federation fleet, all they had to do was keep them from Deep Space 9 for eight hours.

Ensign Frank Cole watched as the fighters dived from port and starboard pouring weapons fire into the Cardassian ships. After the second wave started its attack Cole saw they kept attacking the Cardassian ships. He couldn't understand why. There were Dominion ships in better positions for attack but they were been completely ignored.

"Captain Sisko uses an interesting tactic," said Lieutenant Karak.

Cole looked over and saw that the Vulcan was looking at him.

"Using only fighters?" replied Cole.

"No, he is attacking the Cardassians only. He is playing on their emotions, trying to get them to break off and engage the fighters. Something that would not work on Vulcans."

"Oh," said Cole finally understanding. "The Jem'Hadar will hold their positions like they did at Guyra and Sector 432, while the Cardassians often go into panic or get overly aggressive and just do what they want. That is pretty clever."

"I doubt that the Cardassians will fall for it," said Jonathan. The Captain had been quiet since the initial orders had come from the _Defiant_. "You two figured it out pretty quickly. The Dominion leader would be a person with far greater experience and tactical skill then you two and will figure it out just as quick if not quicker. Especially if it is someone like Dukat."

Cole swivelled around to face the Captain. "Well, if you're right, sir. Where does that leave us?"

"Sooner or later we're going to run out of fighters to throw at them or we'll run out of time. Then we have to push on regardless."

"What would you have done, sir?" asked Cole.

Jonathan squirmed in his seat as he felt the room go silent and attention focus on him. "Hard to say."

Jonathan was going to leave it at that but caught a look from the Commander that made him continue. "This isn't the best situation to be in. We have to fight through the fleet to DS9 and then take the station back and hold it. DS9 destroyed over fifty Dominion ships when they took that station, sure a lot of them were Attack ships but they were fresh. We are going to be battered and tired, plus we'll probably have to fight off the ships that pursue us all the way to DS9. I'd say if we don't make it to DS9 with at least a quarter of our force we will either not take the station or we'll only hold it for a very short period of time. Plus we're around three hours from DS9 at maximum warp. We need to bust through this fleet and get to DS9 with enough time to take it."

"Sounds hopeless," commented Letac from behind Jonathan.

"It might not be. Sisko ran DS9 for five years. If we get there in time he should know how to disable it quickly. Then we just have to hold it until the 9th gets here in a day or so. Plus word is the Tenth is on its way from Betazed. It should get to DS9 around the same time as the 9th. If we can keep our foothold in the Bajor system those two fleets will secure it."

"But if the Dominion are that close to bringing down the mine field they won't give up Bajor easily. Once we're there they are going to keep sending ships at us. A battered fleet won't hold out long like that. Just look at when we were stationed at Sector 432. We had to abandon it. I don't see how we can wait until the 9th or 10th arrives," said Cole.

Jonathan nodded. The Ensign had brought up a very good point. One that he didn't really want to explain, but he knew he had to.

"We don't. We hold out for as long as possible. There will be no retreat. We go down to the last ship and give the Dominion as little time as possible to prepare for the 9th and the 10th fleet," said Karak.

Jonathan nodded. "Starfleet expects that every ship in this group will be either destroyed here or at DS9."

"So you're saying the worst case scenario is that we get wiped out by the Dominion reinforcements because we don't get there in time. The best case scenario is that we're wiped out holding DS9. So either way this is a one way mission."

Jonathan nodded. "It might have been different if we had the whole force with us, but we don't. Fortune has a way of evening out. Even the bold will run out of fortune sooner or later."

* * *

Wing Commander Maxine Benton watched as the eighth wave of fighters attacked the Cardassian ships with nervous anticipation. Maxine was in charge of the ninth wave and was next in line after three hours of continuous waves of fighters. She had all three of her squadrons in her wave as well as several other squadrons from various ships. So far the waves of Federation fighters were taking a toll on the Cardassian ships, while many fighters were being destroyed the fact was that several one and two being fighters were destroying ships with hundreds of beings on them was a heavier toll. The Cardassians were losing more troops then they were and if Benton had been a Cardassian she would have been very pissed off right now.

There was a crackle over her communication system as it came to life.

"_Ninth wave, prepare to engage,"_ came the command from the _Defiant._

Benton pressed a button on her console to reply to the communication.

"Any change in tactics, _Defiant_?"

There was a short pause before an answer came._ "Negative. Keep hitting the Cardassians."_

"Affirmative."

Benton watched as the eighth wave made two more passes before the order came.

"Ninth wave, you are clear to engage."

Benton opened up the throttle on her fighter and it leapt forward. "You heard him, guys. Full impulse. Target the Cardassians only."

The wave was spread out so that their attacks would come from different angles. Benton's group of four fighters dived on a Cardassian _Galor_ from the port side. The Galor and its accompanying ships fired at the fighters. The group had to hold its pattern in attack since they were close together and any wandering would put them in the firing line of a comrade. This meant they could not manoeuvre much to avoid enemy fire. But their velocity made it difficult for them to be hit.

Her group fired a volley of torpedoes at range. The torpedoes impacted on the _Galor's_ shields. The torpedoes were followed closely by Phaser fire as they went to overload one spot of the shields. They were about point-blank when they fired another volley. The fighters pulled up and hurtled over the top of the _Galor_. Benton sensor detected the _Galor_ shudder from secondary explosions. The group continued to speed through the Dominion ships. The other groups had mostly pulled up to get out of the Dominion formation, but that was getting rather predictable and the Dominion was starting to lay down fire in the escape zones. So instead they went through the Dominion formation, since the Dominion wouldn't pour fire at them in fear of hitting their own ships.

Benton group received fire from a pair of _Hideki's_ as they zipped past them. One of the pilots spoke up.

"_We've got pursuers, Commander."_

Benton checked her sensors and it appeared that they were been followed. Suddenly there can several more messages from other pilots. It seemed that two squadrons of _Hideki's_ had broken formation and were pursuing several of the fighter groups.

Benton switched to squadron frequency. "Lure them away from the Dominion fleet and then attack them. Any unengaged groups are to lend a hand to the nearest engaged group."

Benton switched off her communication system and checked her sensors. They had a good lead on the _Hidekis_ and it wouldn't be long until they were clear of the Dominion formation. She also saw that the Federation fleet was on the move. She silently wished them luck.

* * *

"Two squadrons of _Hidekis_ are in pursuit of the fighters!" said Letac in surprise.

"Looks like we caught a break, Captain," said Core. "Helm, prepare to go. Tactical, prepare to kick some tail."

"Orders are coming in from the _Defiant_. It's a go and we're not to stop until we're at DS9. We're getting our specific orders, the 3rd tactical wing is going to be one of the last into the fray," relayed Letac.

"Okay, let's get this done," ordered Jonathan.


	6. Chapter 5

The Federation fleet charged at the Dominion fleet. The faster Attack fighters and light cruisers quickly overtook the bigger and slower ships as they made their way into the heart of the Dominion formation.

The first shots were fired by a pair of _Galor_ class cruisers that were arrayed around the Federation fleets opening "hole" so to trap the Federation fleet. The _Galors_ attacked the small ships as they sped by. But it would not last. Captain Sisko had foreseen this and sent several of his _Galaxy_ class ships to deal with them. As one of the _Galors_ moved in its Gul saw one of the _Galaxy_ class ships bearing down on his ship, the Gul kept moving ahead and firing at the smaller ships. He would have to deal with the _Galaxy_ when it got in close range but both ships were moving with enough velocity that they would quickly pass each other. The Gul was confident his ships would be able to survive a quick pass with the much larger warship.

But from below and to the port of the _Galor_ came a second _Galaxy_ class ship. It cut across the _Galor's_ bow, forcing its Gul to order the helm to break to starboard to avoid impact. But collision was the last thing on the _Galaxy_ class ship's captain's mind. The _Galaxy_ opened fire with its Type X Phaser arrays. The first blast hit just behind the Bridge of the Galor, dealing major damage to the ship's shield generators. The second blast hit the large forward Spiral disruptor that dominated the front of the ship. The third and four blasts hit the Galor on the starboard side roughly half way down the ship. This was when the first _Galaxy_ that the Gul had been concerned about joined in. It fired two quick blasts at the same spot as the second blast from the previous _Galaxy_ had hit. The _Galor_ was out of the fight for good.

The second _Galor_ was attack by one Galaxy from below as well, but the _Galaxy_ targeted below the Bridge. After several well placed shots one of the _Galaxy's_ Phaser beams sliced through the hull and came out the other side, destroying the Bridge. Another _Galaxy_ came in and destroyed the _Galor_ completely.

* * *

Jonathan heard a "yes!" come from someone on the Bridge as the two _Galors_ were dealt with quickly and harshly. The _Swiftfire_ had looped far to starboard and was at the rear of its wing formation. They had a great view of the demonstration of the _Galaxy's_ firepower.

The _Swiftfire's_ weapons were also put to good use. In combination with a flanking _Steamrunner_ they destroyed a Dominion battle cruiser. Jonathan surveyed the battlefield and picked a target, a _Norin_ light cruiser that found itself on its own.

"Signal the _Aspen_ and tell them to target the Norin at mark 345, bearing 040," ordered Jonathan.

"Sir, I can't communicate with the _Aspen_!" said Letac in panic.

"Try another ship in our wing_._"

"I can't get them either!"

"They must be jamming us. Check for that."

Letac quickly did a check. "I'm detecting a rotating EM pulse, it is probably the cause."

"Can you get rid it?"

"I doubt it. It's very complex. It will take me hours, if I can do it."

"Without communication we can't coordinate with the rest of the fleet," said Core.

Even now the fleet's formation started to collapse. Ship went in all directions, firing on any targets. Several would not notice that the jamming was in effect but with the sudden loss of order everyone would be trying to get everyone else and then they would know what was going on.

"What do we do, Captain?" asked Core.

Jonathan sat for a moment in concentration despite the enemy fire that was rocking the ship. "Kill 'em."

"Sir?" asked Whitechapel.

"Kill 'em all. Open up with all weapons. Destroy any ships around us and then move forward. Maybe if we destroy enough ships the jamming field will drop."

"But sir the _Defiant_ told us to go straight for DS9," said Core.

"We're a heavy cruiser! We can't just dodge our way through. The only hope we had was in wings. The wings would provide the firepower to clear the way for the bigger ships. With that all gone we are to destroy every ship we can and lend a hand to other ships as needed. If we do well, we'll make it easier for other ships to break through," explained Jonathan. "Is that clear?"

A chorus of "yes, sir" rang around the Bridge.

"Target, sir?" asked Whitechapel.

"The _Aspen_ was run into trouble with those three Cardassian ships. Let's even up the score."

* * *

Wing Commander Benton thumb depressed on the trigger causing the Phaser cannon in the nose of the fighter to spew balls of phased energy into the rear of the Cardassian Patrol ship. The fighters had quickly turned the tables on their two pursuers. Once they were clear of the Dominion formation. They stopped running and engaged the Cardassians, plus another group of fighters had joined and it was no real contest.

The fighters were much more manoeuvrable and once they got behind the _Hidekis_ it was just a matter of time. The _Hideki_ class was like a lot of small ships and didn't have any rear arc weapons coverage. The fighters were staying out of the _Hideki's_ weapon's arc and just blasting away.

Benton saw as another set of Phaser fire penetrated the shields and chewed into the hull. She added to the damage with her Phasers. The _Hideki_ started to manoeuvre even more wildly then it did before so to make it difficult for the fighters to keep hitting it. But the fighters stayed on the ship's tail. She slowly started to track the weapon upwards. The Phaser fire chewed its way to the Bridge where she settled. A pair of torpedoes flashed into view and hit where Benton was firing. The armour gave in and there was a large explosion and fire leapt out of where the Bridge was as the atmosphere leaked out.

The _Hideki_ was out of the fight. Benton broke the fighters off and headed back to the main battle. What she saw was not uplifting. The Federation formation had totally collapsed. Instead of fighting as a unit it fought as individuals. Each ship was fighting its own battle and against a larger force, what wasn't the way to win.

"_What the hell has happened?" _asked one of the pilots._ "It's like they've lost coordination."_

"_They must be jamming communications,"_ suggested another pilot.

Benton silently agreed with the idea. If it was true they would soon lose communications with each other. She had only a little time to organise the remains of her wave.

She hailed all the fighters in the wave. "Looks like we have no communications soon, so these are probably going to be my final orders. Each squadron is to find their mother ship and help it out. If you have no mother ship or it was destroyed just help any ship out and stick with that ship. Good luck." Benton switched to her squadrons' private communication channel. "Okay. As anyone found the _Swiftfire_?"

"_Yep," _said one of her pilots._ "I'm sending over its coordinates."_

Benton got the coordinates. The _Swiftfire_ was in the thick of it. She also seemed to be flanking a _Steamrunner_; both ships were blasting Dominion and Cardassian ships together, showing that they had some kind of system working between the two.

"Okay, we'll attack whatever the _Swiftfire _does. Hopefully that will get us through to the other side. We're just about to enter the Dominion formation. I'd say we'll lose communications, so see you all at Quark's."

The fighters entered the edge of the Dominion formation, which now was a graveyard of ships. The fighter's dodged through the wreckage. As they encounter more intact Dominion ships they had to dodge weapons fire more then wreckage. But they finally made their way to the _Swiftfire_. The _Swiftfire _and the _Aspen_, another member of the 3rd Tactical Wing, were blasting a battle cruiser when the fighters arrived. They hurtled over the two Starfleet ships and fired on the Dominion ship. It was hard to figure out who was more surprised, the Dominion ship or the two Starfleet ships, as all three ships stopped firing at each other as the fighters attacked. The battle cruiser then turned its attention to swatting the fighters away. The Starfleet ships opened fire again once the fighters were clear. Together they destroyed the battle cruiser.

"That'll show 'em!" cried Benton victoriously. "Plus there's a whole more where that came from!"


	7. Chapter 6

The battle raged on and it seemed that the Federation fleet was doomed. Most of the ships had turned to destroying as many Dominion ships as possible and with no or little coordination each ship found they were alone in a sea of enemy warships. But the Federation fleet would not give in. Several ships banded together in small groups. Like the_ Swiftfire_ and the _Aspen_. They had a relatively simple mode of communication. Each ship would take turns in picking a target and then both would work together to destroy it. The arrival of the _Swiftfire's_ attack fighters helped. They soon picked up on the pattern and help where they could, plus they gave both Starfleet capital ships assistance in dealing with the plentiful attack ships.

But the fleet wasn't making much headway. The bulk of the fleet was fighting more sideways then they were fighting forward. This was a problem as they were trying to get through the enemy fleet and reach DS9 and as time went the toll started to build steadily. Even the fast ships were not making as much headway as they would like. They couldn't just fly in a straight line so they were zigzagging through the Dominion fleet. In fact in some instances ships would go the opposite way to where they wanted to go so to lose pursuing Dominion vessels. As the Starfleet ships moved to the next target they would receive more damage and then more onto another fresh target, the fleet was been worn down.

The _Aspen_ was an example of this. Together with the _Swiftfire_ the two ships had moved forward but the _Aspen_ finally succumbed. The crew of the _Swiftfire_ could only watch as a battle cruiser and a _Galor_ class cruiser caught the _Steamrunner_ class ship in a crossfire. The ship had taken hours to fight its way into the Dominion fleet, but only a few seconds to be reduced to atoms.

* * *

On the _Swiftfire_ klaxons were sounding everywhere.

"We've taken some damage from the _Aspen's_ explosion," reported Letac. "I've got port shields back up but they are at a reduced power."

"How's Wing Commander Benton's fighters?" asked Jonathan.

"Several were close to the _Aspen _when she exploded. I can't detect them. But the Commander's fighter is still there."

The ship rocked, but nobody really noticed. It had been a common occurrence for the last few hours.

"All weapons target that battle cruiser," order Jonathan. "It's the hard hitter and I want it gone."

The _Swiftfire's_ Phasers and torpedo launchers fired at the battle cruiser and the battle cruiser replied with fire from its phased polaron emitters. An _Akira_ class starship and a Dominion battle cruiser wasn't a bad match up but with the _Akira_ already damaged the battle cruiser had a clear advantage. If they stayed and slugged it out at range the _Swiftfire_ would lose.

So they had to change tactic.

"Helm, put us along side the battle cruiser."

"Sir?" asked Cole.

"Along side it, Ensign. So that our starboard side is facing her port side."

Cole just nodded and followed the order, actually Karak did most of the work but Cole didn't just sit there twiddling his thumbs.

Commander Core looked at Jonathan. "Is that wise, Captain? We have a limited amount of firepower that covers the side."

"But so do they," said Jonathan. "Plus we have an advantage."

The _Swiftfire_ moved closer to the battle cruiser. The battle cruiser continued fire at the _Swiftfire_ but it did not move. Soon the _Swiftfire_ was flanking the battle cruiser and like Human naval vessels of old they exchanged broadsides. Just like Jonathan had stated the amount of fire from the battle cruiser decreased as they move to a position that was less accessible to its weapons.

After a few exchanges Jonathan made his move.

"Are the starboard tubes loaded?"

Whitechapel checked and nodded.

"Fire a spread at the battle cruiser."

The _Akira_ starship came with a unique weapon placement, at least for Starfleet vessels. Not only was it armed with over a dozen torpedo launchers but it had four tubes facing directly starboard and directly port. This gave the _Akira_ a decisive advantage in delivering broadsides as most ships focused their weapons forward.

The _Swiftfire_ let loose four torpedoes from two of its starboard tubes. At such close proximity there was no way for the Battle cruiser to avoid them and they slammed into the ships port shields. The shields had little time to recover before another four torpedoes came in. The shields buckled and the _Swiftfire's_ Phasers cut into the hull.

"Break away," ordered Jonathan. "Prepare four torpedoes to be fired from the rear tubes."

The _Swiftfire_ gracefully broke away from the burning side of the battle cruiser. The ship turned so that its back was facing the battle cruiser.

"Fire," ordered Jonathan.

Four torpedoes leapt from the rear tubes and hit the unshielded hull of the battle cruiser. The torpedo explosions where quickly followed by secondary explosions. The battle cruiser was not totally destroyed, but it wasn't going to be firing another shot in anger ever again.

* * *

Lieutenant Commander Pavlo Celcho was helped off the floor by one of his Engineering crew. Celcho thanked the officer then told him to get back to work. The _Swiftfire_ had rocked more violently that time then before and had caught Celcho by surprise. That is how he ended up on the floor.

Another report of an offline system came in. Celcho quickly assigned a team to go and fix the problem. But this was becoming a problem; he was running out of engineering personnel to fix all these problems. In fact he had already put the Marines who were guarding Engineering to work manning consoles. In fact two had been sent out with two Engineering teams to fix some minor problems. When with all personnel from all shifts working at once, it was a stretch. If ever he needed more Engineers it was today.

Celcho brought up a damage schematic of the _Swiftfire_. The schematic showed the ship and any areas that were damaged in a flashing red dot. There were too many red dots for Celcho's liking. If he had it his way he would take the _Swiftfire_ out of the fight for a while and give him teams a chance to repair something without another problem appearing and compounding it. But he wasn't the Captain and the Captain wasn't an Engineer, so he threw the ship into battle after battle with no thought about what it would be doing to the ship. But like he said before, he wasn't a Captain. The captain knew the tactical situation better, had a better grasp of tactics and strategy and was promoted because Command thought he knew how to best serve his crew and the Federation.

The Captain may not be an Engineer but he did know what he was doing. He thought that the Federation would be best served if he kept the pressure on the Dominion fleet, so that was the best thing to do. It was probably going to get them all killed, but self sacrifice was a noble thing to do.

The ship rocked again and there were sounds of a small explosion. Celcho looked to see a small fire at one of the walls. A conduit had probably overloaded. He yelled for someone to put the fire out.

* * *

The battle seemed lost. The Starfleet ships had fought hard and valiantly but it was a battle of attrition against a larger foe. It seemed only a matter of time before the Federation fleet would crumble and be crushed.

But as Sisko said at the start of the battle, fortune favours the bold, and it did. In a short amount of time two hours into the close quarters battle three pivotal events happened, all focused around the _Defiant_. With three hours left before the Dominion brought down the minefield all these events happened.

First was that Chief O'Brien broke through the jamming. With communications back the Starfleet forces regained some cohesion. Again fighting as a single unit with a single goal the fleet took it up to the Dominion. The second event was the surprise arrival of the Klingons. Commander Worf and General Martok arrived with ships from the Klingon Empire and like atmospheric craft of centuries before, dived from the glare of a nearby star and broke into the port side of the Dominion formation, saving the _Defiant_ in the process. The third event was the _Defiant_ breaking through the Dominion lines. With the help of three Birds of Prey the _Defiant_ made a dash for it and made it.

Unfortunately no other ship made it with her. With time running out the _Defiant_ couldn't afford to turn and reengage to help other ships break through. It was up to the _Defiant_ to save the day.


	8. Chapter 7

A technician slammed a panel closed on the outside of the _Peregrine_ class Attack Fighter and gave the thumbs up to the deck officer. The deck officer then signalled for the Attack fighter to launch. The fighter lifted off the deck and slowly flew forward. Once it hit open space the fighter shot forward as its pilot opened up the throttle.

Wing Commander Benton waited until she cleared the rear of the _Swiftfire_ before she turned the ship. Normally they would launch out of the forward section but with the _Swiftfire_ in the middle of battle it was more dangerous to do that since you were more likely to get hit by enemy fire or friendly fire.

Benton opened a channel to the _Swiftfire._ "What's our target?"

Once communications had been restored the Federation fleet had started to reorganise itself. Ships were fighting their way to the rest of the fleet as it regrouped in the hole smashed into the Dominion formation by the Klingon's arrival. The Klingon fleet, under the command of General Martok, was all over the place helping the scattered Federation fleet reform. The _Swiftfire_ was one of the ships that found itself in front of the rally point and had fallen back, which the Dominion fleet seemed happy to allow. This gave a chance for the Captain to recall the fighters for rearming. The fighters had run out of torpedoes hours ago and had been fighting with just Phasers. The reload once again gave them a bigger hit, plus they had added six full sized torpedoes to the armament, three connected under each wing. They hadn't done this at the start since the addition affected the crafts manoeuvrability but now that didn't matter as much. The _Peregrines_ were armed to the teeth.

"_Hold position, Commander. The _Venture_ will give you your task once the fleet is ready."_

Benton acknowledged the order and brought her fighter to a stop. Other fighters under her command started to arrive as they were launched from the _Swiftfire_.

She looked out at the Dominion formation. It was still in place and in their way. It had adjusted its formation to match the regrouping of the allied fleets.

And the Dominion fleet seemed happy to let them do this. The Commander didn't exactly agree with that decision. The way she saw the situation was that the Dominion fleet didn't move in to engage was because they didn't want to create any holes in their blockade that ships could slip through. By doing this they let the Starfleet forces regroup and attack in strength. This would mean a lot more loses for the Dominion before they took down the Federation fleet. The other option was to attack while the fleet was grouping. This would put them on the attack and they would lose fewer ships then the previous plan but it gave the fleet a greater chance of getting ships through the holes created when the blockade formation moved. But there was only around two hours left before the minefield came down, not enough time for any of the ships to get to Deep Space 9 to stop it, save the _Defiant_. If it was up to her she would have collapsed the formation on top of the Federation fleet. She guess that the Dominion was playing it safe and wanted to hold the fleet here until the minefield was definitely down, once that happened it didn't matter if one or a hundred ships made it past their blockade.

She checked her sensors. The fleet looked to have regrouped. The Klingon ships were also in formation. They comprised one of the fleet's flanks. The arrival of the Klingon fleet had been fortunate but they could have done to have a couple more ships, say a thousand. The fleet appeared to be under the command of a General Martok. His flag was on the Bird of Prey, IKS_ Rotarran_, an unusual choice for sure. She expected a General of Martok's reputation to be in a _Vor'cha_ or something bigger. She shook her head, Klingons were a confusing species.

The _Peregrine's_ communication system beeped as its audio systems came online.

"Venture_ to all ships, proceed with the attack. All fighters join the Twelfth Battlegroup's flank and assist them."_

Benton steered her ship towards the Klingon ships. There was no need to reply to the order from the Admiral on the USS_ Venture._ Such was the flexibility of Starfleet that it was able to over look rank and put a lesser ranked officer, though better qualified, in charge of the fleet. Now that Captain Sisko had gone the role had fallen on the Admiral on the _Venture_, since she was the ranking officer left in the fleet. It was now up to her to defeat the Dominion and save the fleet.

The fleet was already moving. Space lit up as they moved into range of the Dominion ships and they started to exchange fire.

Over two hours later the fleet was still fighting. The fleet had made some inroads but the Dominion was still holding them at bay. The greatest inroads were made on the Klingon's flank. Martok had taken to using cloaked tactics. Attack wings of Klingon vessels would cloak and reappear at different areas of the battlefield. It kept the Dominion formation tight and from being too aggression as due to the interference from all the weapon's fire and explosions even the Dominion would have trouble locking down on a cloaked vessel. It was a dangerous tactic as the Klingon vessels had to drop their shields to cloak and several vessels had been destroyed as they cloaked and uncloaked.

It also made it a bit more hazardous for the fighters assisting the Klingons as they didn't know exactly where the Klingon ships were going to reappear and where they were going to be firing.

Benton's _Peregrine_ dodged several polaron beams from a battle cruiser as it fired on a Klingon ship behind her. She slashed across the ventral hull of the battle cruiser with her phasers. Once again she was out of torpedoes. Once the Dominion formation got tighter it became clear that the fighters would need the extra manoeuvrability that the extra torpedoes took, so they had quickly used them on the Dominion ships.

She looped her fighter back to make another pass at the battle cruiser and saw a large group of Klingon ships cloak, the largest group so far. The tactic was getting repetitive less effective as the Dominion adjusted. She noted the cloaked ships and mentally tagged the area she was sure they would reappear to attack the Dominion. The Dominion fleet suddenly adjust its formation and fire into an area of empty space it dawned on Maxine at the same moment the area became a cacophony of fiery mess that was the area she thought the Klingons would reappear. It seemed that the Dominion had also figured out the pattern used by the Klingons. The Klingon flank was suddenly much weaker

The Dominion fleet took advantage on the situation and several wings of ships broke formation and moved in on the weakened flank. She barked orders out to her wing but felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as the Dominion fleet smashed into the flank.


	9. Chapter 8

Captain Masters watched as a Cardassian _Tonga_ broke apart under the joint attack of the _Swiftfire_ and the _Perry_.

"Damn! The Klingons are in trouble!" said Commander Core.

Jonathan had kept an eye on the Klingons as the battle progressed as they seemed to be making the most headway. When he looked at the reports now he was shocked, a large number of Klingon ships were gone and the Dominion flank was folding in on the Klingons. It was a complete turn around.

"What the hell?" he asked.

"The Dominion seems to have worked out the Klingon's attack pattern and decimated a cloaked attack force. They are now attempting to outflank our forces," reported Karak. "Given the data available I predict that they will be successful."

That was bad news. If the Klingons collapsed that flank of the Federation fleet would be exposed and things would get even worse.

"Even with the Klingons we're in trouble!" added Cole.

Jonathan raised his hands to get everyone quiet.

"There is nothing we can do about it now. Just get your minds back on the task at hand," he ordered.

Jonathan couldn't believe it either. They were slowly gaining an advantage for the first time in the battle and it had complete evaporated in seconds.

"Captain," said Letac getting his attention. "The 3rd has been ordered to join the 59th to move to reinforce the Klingon's flank."

Jonathan ordered helm to do as ordered, though deep down he knew that in the face of the massive flanking manoeuvre two weakened tactical wings would not do much to stop them.

The _Swiftfire_ and a dozen other ships moved to the exposed flank, weapons blazing.

* * *

If anger could power weapons Wing Commander Benton's weapons would have been powerful enough to destroy a star. She tried to will the energy of her anger into her phasers as she strafed the hull of a _Galor_.

The loss of the Klingon warships was disheartening but the rest of the Klingon ships had almost gone timid. They were now giving ground to the Dominion forces, falling back where they could hold especially with Starfleet reinforcements on the way. She hated to think it, but it seemed that the Klingons had given up! They had only been in the battle for three hours, when they got to eight hours then they could moan!

Several Starfleet vessels had moved to try and hold the Dominion ships. She wasn't sure but it looked like the one of the vessels coming to help was the _Swiftfire_. If it was the _Swiftfire_, it wasn't looking too good. The plain grey surface was marred by black, the result of weapons fire that had penetrated the shields. It was a common appearance among the Starfleet vessels, far too common for the Wing Commander's tastes.

Her view of space was suddenly covered by a bright light as her shields took a heavy hit. She struggled with the controls as the force of the impact threatened to throw the ship off course. Benton reefed the control stick randomly to make her a more difficult target to hit as she glanced at the ship's status. The shields had held, barely. She took the ship way from the _Galor_ as she let the shields recharge before going back for another pass.

"_Federation fighters, this is the _Wo'tang. _Break off your attacks immediately."_

Without much thought Maxine did as she was ordered. She glanced at her sensors and was confused. There were no Klingon warships in her immediate area. She was about to hail the _Wo'tang_, wherever it was, and yell at the commander.

Suddenly something appeared close to her on sensors, she turned to see it and her view of space was disrupted. But this time it wasn't the effect of weapons fire, instead space wavered like a disrupted pool. But instead of returning to normal it quickly changed to green.

A _Torath_ class starship appeared and unleashed a hail of torpedoes on the _Galor_ she had been attacking. The _Galor's_ back broke under the assault. Benton checked her sensors and saw that more Klingon vessels had appeared and were similarly taking the Dominion flanking manoeuvre to pieces.

She cheered as she saw what the Klingons had done. They had managed to lure the most of the Dominion flank out of position and now trapped them between the Federation reinforcements and them. The 'retreating' Klingons also turned on the now weakened Dominion flank. With a savagery that was the hallmark of the Klingon military they smashed into the Dominion's flank leaving nothing but death and destruction in their wake.

* * *

"The Klingons are out flanking the Dominion," reported Karak.

"Their lines are starting to collapse!" said Letac excitedly.

"Clever bastards!" said Core with excitement. "I knew there was more to this then met the eye." Masters gave her a look of scepticism. "Deep down," she clarified. "Though this all might be for nothing."

Masters nodded solemnly. There were only a few minutes before the minefield was predicted to come down and they had heard nothing from the _Defiant_ after it had broken through. The Dominion's lines were now porous but they were hours from the wormhole so disengaging to go to the station was pointless. As far as he could tell they were operating under the principle of destroying as many enemy ships as they could and hope that it would make some sort of difference when the _Defiant_ failed. While no one had said as much he could feel that the mood on the bridge was that the _Defiant_ did not stand any chance of succeeding. If only a tactical wing or two had also made it through, then maybe they could dare to hope.

"The _Venture_ is ordering the 3rd and 59th tactical wings to break through the Dominion lines," reported Karak.

It looked like they were going to try to envelop the enemy fleet now and several units were to get behind the enemy formation. "Helm, turn as back towards Deep Space 9. Have the _Perry_ and _Malinche_ form up with us," he ordered.

The _Swiftfire_ dodged through the Dominion ships, blasting several into wreckage. The _Swiftfire_ picked up two Attack Ships as it made its way through the Dominion fleet.

"Rear shields are at 20%," reported Letac. "Transferring power to shields."

Before she could do that several phaser blasts lanced up and destroyed both attack ships. To the rear of the _Swiftfire_ the _Steamrunner _class, USS _Perry_ and the _Excelsior_ class, USS _Malinche_ moved into formation.

"_You're clear, _Swiftfire," came Captain Sanders of the _Malinche_ over the comm.

"Thank you, Captain," thanked Masters. "Take flanking positions, we're going through!"

The _Malinche_ and _Perry_ flanked the _Swiftfire_ as they charged at three enemy ships. Before them were a battle cruiser, a _Tonga_ and a _Galor_.

"What's the tactic?" asked Core.

"Simple. I want you to underload a full forward barrage. Hit them with everything we got."

"Nice and easy, just my style," said Nikki.

The three Starfleet ships closed on the Dominion vessels. Several smaller Dominion ships attacked them as they made their approach but it wasn't enough. The _Swiftfire_ opened up with all her active forward launchers, unleashing dozens of torpedoes. The _Malinche_ and _Perry_ joined in. The torpedo barrage peppered the enemy vessels. The _Tonga_ was the first to fall, an older design its shields were the least powerful and could not handle the assault. Torpedoes struck the hull, ripping it to shreds. The _Galor_ was next. The battle cruiser held the longest but it too met the same fate. The three Starfleet vessels exited through the hole into open space.

"Damage report."

"Minor," reported Karak. "The _Malinche _and _Perry_ only received minor damage as well."

"Get us around to hit their rear," he ordered.

Masters glanced back at the time as it counted down, it was just about up. He watched as it hit zero and keep going. His heart sank as the seconds ticked by. Admiral Douglas had not sent any new or revised orders, which probably meant the _Defiant_ had not pulled the impossible off.

"The _Venture_ is sending us orders," relayed Karak. Masters held his breath as he waiting for Karak to continue. "The 3rd and the 59th are form up and prepare to go to warp. Destination Deep Space 9."

"What!" he said excitedly. "Ask for clarification, did the _Defiant_ do it."

"The _Venture_ reports that Captain Sisko has reported that the Dominion reinforcements have been stopped and our orders are to reinforce the _Defiant_ and drive the Dominion from Deep Space 9."

"Captain, look at the fleet!" said Letac.

Masters ordered it on screen. It showed the Dominion lines behind them or what was left of them. Groups of Klingon and Federation ships were breaking through.

"The _Venture_ is ordering all ships to form up and prepare to head for Deep Space 9. The _Rotarran_ is giving similar orders to the Klingon vessels that have broken through," continued to report Karak.

"I don't know how he did it," said Jonathan in amazement. "But I'm glad he did. Is the entire fleet coming through?"

"No," reported Whitechapel. "Around two hundred are through, the rest and continuing to engage the Dominion fleet. Looks like the _Cortéz _is in command."

Masters smiled widely. The Dominion fleet was in an impossible situation. If it tried to stop them it would allow the rest of the fleet to also pursue them and they would be dragged to Deep Space 9, if they didn't the station faced heavy odds.

"This battle isn't over yet. Let's go take back DS9," he ordered with a sense of purpose.

Some two hundred ships massed and groups jumped to warp for Bajor. The group didn't travel very far before they received news about their destination.

"We have a fleet wide," reported Karak.

Jonathan signalled for it to be put on.

"_Attention all ships. This is Rear Admiral Douglas. We have news. The battle is over. The _Defiant_ did it…they stopped the reinforcements and the Dominion is now evacuating Deep Space 9. The remains of the Dominion fleet_ _engaging the rest of the fleet is also in retreat. We've won!"_

Cheers erupted on the bridge with that news. Even Jonathan could not help joining in. The battle was final over. They had won.


	10. Epilogue

Maxine came to a halt outside her quarters and turned to face Jonathan.

"Well, here we are," she said.

"Yep."

"Thanks for taking me to Dinner on the station."

Jonathan brought up a hand and placed it at the back of his head.

"Sorry about the Klingon thing. I thought the restaurant would still be there."

"It's okay," said Maxine, placing a hand on Jonathan's arm. "Quark's was fine. I also got to see the famous crew of the _Defiant_ and eat a great meal. It was a great night if you ask me."

Jonathan smiled. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. Well, I better be going."

Jonathan went to turn and leave but Maxine grabbed him, keeping him in place. She then reached up and kissed Jonathan on the lips before he knew what was happening. Jonathan reluctance disappeared as he gave in to the moment. Maxine waited until she felt her brain cry for her to breathe and broke contact. She slowly pulled away; her breathing was short and quick. She didn't get very far, she realised she had locked her arms around Jonathan's neck. She felt and heard Jonathan's hot breath on her face. Maxine unwrapped herself.

"Sorry," she apologised.

"It…it's okay," stuttered Jonathan. "I b…better go."

Jonathan turned sharply and marched away in an attempt to look unruffled but he tripped several times, ending any chance of the illusion working.

Maxine opened the door to her quarters and walked in. She was in a daze. Her mind was travelling so fast it was starting to make her feel dizzy. She collapsed onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

This is what she thought would happen. This is what she thought she would feel. Yet it didn't help, it made thing even more confusing, if that was possible. She sat up and put her head in her hands.

She wondered if Jonathan had felt what she felt.


End file.
